Learning from the past : genetic analyses of ancient and contemporary samples identify how historic and pre-historic events have shaped modern whale populations

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dc.contributor.advisor Frasier, Timothy, 1976-
dc.coverage.spatial British Columbia
dc.creator Beland, Stephanie Louise
dc.date.accessioned 2015-06-04T13:20:43Z
dc.date.available 2015-06-04T13:20:43Z
dc.date.issued 2014
dc.identifier.other QL737 C4 B45 2014
dc.identifier.uri http://library2.smu.ca/xmlui/handle/01/26215
dc.description v, 94 leaves : ill. (some col.), map ; 29 cm.
dc.description Includes abstract.
dc.description Includes bibliographical references.
dc.description.abstract The techniques for genetic species identification and inferring past population sizes are being utilized in more fields than just population genetics. Anthropology, conservation biology, and species management are also using these practices. They can use these techniques to confirm historical data and to make informed decisions in the future. By using genetic species identification on ancient whale bones recovered from traditional First Nations whaling sites, it was discovered that gray and humpback whales were the species of choice. This is important information in regards to the future of First Nations traditional whaling on Canada’s west coast. The DNA recovered from these ancient whale bones was then used to estimate pre-commercial whaling genetic variation, and make inferences about historic and pre-historic population demography. In addition to gaining insight into historic population demography, I also found that results differed dramatically if such inferences were based on historic or contemporary samples. These results are particularly important given the increasing popularity of using contemporary samples to infer population history, and show that caution is required when interpreting the results of such studies. en_CA
dc.description.provenance Submitted by Greg Hilliard (greg.hilliard@smu.ca) on 2015-06-04T13:20:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Beland_Stephanie_MASTERS_2014.pdf: 1177992 bytes, checksum: e99078287f379fe6574939382cce7d63 (MD5) en
dc.description.provenance Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-04T13:20:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Beland_Stephanie_MASTERS_2014.pdf: 1177992 bytes, checksum: e99078287f379fe6574939382cce7d63 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-22 en
dc.language.iso en en_CA
dc.publisher Halifax, N.S. : Saint Mary's University
dc.subject.lcc QL737.C4
dc.subject.lcsh DNA fingerprinting of animals -- British Columbia -- Vancouver Island
dc.subject.lcsh Whale populations -- British Columbia -- Vancouver Island
dc.subject.lcsh Whaling -- British Columbia -- Vancouver Island -- History
dc.title Learning from the past : genetic analyses of ancient and contemporary samples identify how historic and pre-historic events have shaped modern whale populations en_CA
dc.type Text en_CA
thesis.degree.name Master of Science in Applied Science
thesis.degree.level Masters
thesis.degree.discipline Biology
thesis.degree.grantor Saint Mary's University (Halifax, N.S.)
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